Heroes Are Nothing Without Bonds
by Takeshi1225
Summary: Before he was about to leave Konoha to train with Jiraiya, Naruto decided to stay as he realized that maybe the bonds he's made with the people he considers precious to him will make him stronger than leaving them to train. Now Naruto is training to become stronger in Konoha, but did he make the right decision? NaruSakuHarem. Writing challenge that I've decided to accept from JTZ29


Heroes Are Nothing Without Bonds

Hey guys, Takeshi1225 here. This is that writing challenge that JTZ29 senpai had created for fellow fanfictioneers to write, that I've decided to write my own one version of. So I hope you all enjoy it.

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto... Damn.**

**Chapter 1: Bonds do make one stronger**

Naruto was at the Ichiraku ramen noodle stand enjoying a bowl of ramen with Iruka.

"So today's the day huh?" Iruka said.

"Yep. Today, I'm off to get stronger!" Naruto said with a grin. Although Naruto has been wondering something. "Hey Iruka sensei.."

"Hm?"

"I've been wondering... how did the Hokage become so strong?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, well let's see." Iruka then thought it over. "The Shodaime Hokage has always been strong, but I think that was because of his clan along with the Uchiha as well. The Nidaime Hokage also had the Senju clan by his side, but he also had faith in the Sandaime Hokage. The Sandaime Hokage was taught by the Shodaime and Nindaime which made him strong, but he also had found strength in the villagers and had the will to protect them. The Yondaime actually had Jiraiya-sama helping him out; I also heard that he had the Sandaime and Tsunade-sama hellp him out and be by his side before. And of course Tsunade-sama had the Sandaime teaching her when she was younger and even though she left the village for a long time, her bonds with others were still strong." Iruka explained.

"So... their bonds are what made them stronger." Naruto said as he looked into his reflection inside his bowl of ramen. Naruto then had a determined look on his face. Naruto stood and started to leave the stand.

"Hey Naruto, where are you going?" Iruka asked seeing his favorite old student leave.

"I've got to find that old pervert." Naruto said as he headed out.

;

.

Naruto looked around for a while as he searched for Jiraiya.

"Hey there you are." Naruto turned to see Jiraiya. "I was looking for you." Jiraiya said with a smirk.

"Well I was looking for you." Naruto said.

"Right, right, you want to get this training trip on the way." Jiraiya said.

"Actually, that's what I wanted to talk to you about." Naruto said getting a look of confusion from Jiraiya. "I want to stay in the village and train here." Naruto said shocking Jiraiya.

"What? Naruto, what are you talking about?"

"I just told you! I want to stay here!" Naruto said.

"Naruto, the Akatsuki will be looking for you."

"Then don't you think that staying in a place where trained shinobi reside would be a better place for me to stay for my protection? I mean come on Ero-sennin, you and I both know that you'd leave me alone sometime to go peeping."

"Researching."

"Whatever! I know that the only way I can become really strong is to stay here." Naruto argued.

"Naruto, think about what you're doing."

"I have. If I stay here then I'll become as strong as the Hokage." Naruto said.

"What do you mean by that?" Jiraiya asked with a raised eyebrow.

"From what I've learned from Iruka sensei, the Hokage have become as strong as they were because they had others by their side. They've become strong by their bonds with others." Naruto said making Jiraiya blink with surprise. "The Shodaime had his clan along with the Uchihas, The Nidaime had his clan and jiji, and jiji had both the Shodaime and Nidaime along with the rest of the village. Hell, even the Yondaime had you by his side, but he also had others like jiji and Tsunade baa-chan! Their bonds are what made them strong and if I leave here, I know that a part of my strength wouldn't be able to come along with me!" Naruto explained.

Jiraiya looked at Naruto with shock. He didn't like to admit it, but the little gaki was right. "Naruto, is this how you truly feel?" Jiraiya asked. Naruto nodded in response.

"More than anything!" Naruto exclaimed with pure conviction. Jiraiya stared at Naruto for a moment before he sighed.

"Alright, fine. You win." Jiraiya said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"Yatta!" Naruto shouted with joy as he jumped into the air.

'Maybe this is what the both of you would have wanted, Minato, Kushina.' Jiraiya thought with a small smile.

;

.

"So you're staying here instead?" Tsunade questioned.

"Believe it or not the kid was very convincing." Jiraiya said with a shrug of his shoulders.

"And it was all your decision, right Naruto?" Tsunade asked the little blonde genin.

"Yep." Naruto said with a nod.

"Oh thank Kami." Tsunade said with a sigh making Naruto and Jiraiya raise an eyebrow. "I mean, alright then, I understand." Tsunaade said.

"Baa-chan, don't tell me you were worried about me leaving you." Naruto said teasingly with his trademark grin.

"Shut it brat!" Tsunade said making Naruto and Jiraiya laugh a bit which gave her a tick mark on her head, "Just get out! The both of you!"

"Okay, okay, but baa-chan, I was wondering if you could help me out with training." Naruto said.

"Hm? Well I don't know, I was actually going to personally train Sakura myself since she asked." Tsunade said.

"Oh, dammit." Naruto cursed. Suddenly Shizune came in carrying a huge pile of papers in her hands.

"Here's more paperwork Tsunade-sama." Shizune said placing the giant stacks of paper on Tsunade's desk making the Hokage groan. Naruto looked up at the stack of papers as a thought came to mind.

'There's so much. It seems going through that stuff would be easier if-' Naruto's eyes then widened at realization before he smiled deviously. "Boy that's a lot of paperwork." Naruto said with a smirk.

"Jeez, thanks for noticing." Tsunade said with an annoyed expression on her face.

"You know you could breeze through that stuff quicker." Naruto said with his eyes closed as he had a smug smile and his arms crossed.

"How? By speed writing causing my hand to cramp?" Tsunade said with annoyance.

"No, with the jutsu I just realized would help you get through that stuff in less than five minutes." Naruto said causing everyone to llok at him.

"What?" Tsunade questioned.

"Well I'm just saying that going through the stuff would be a breeze if you used a specific jutsu." Naruto said shrugging his shoulders.

"And you just figured this out?" Tsunade questioned getting a nod from Naruto in response. "You're lying."

"Tell you what baa-chan, how about we make a deal?" Naruto suggested.

"A deal?" Tsunade repeated.

"Yeah; if I tell you the jutsu that'll help you get more happy hours then you've got to train me with Sakura-chan from time to time." Naruto said with a confident smirk on his face.

"Only if the jutsu does help like you say." Tsunade said with her arms crossed as she sat back in her chair.

"Deal." Naruto said with his trademark grin.

"So what is it? **Gokakyu jutsu**?" (Fireball technique) Tsunade questioned with smug smirk feeling that Naruto didn't know at all.

"No. It just seemed that to me, that all that paperwork would go by a lot quicker if there were more of you." Naruto said with a smirk.

Everyone looked at Naruto with wide eyes and shocked looks upon their faces.

"Wait a minute... you mean-"

"It just seemed a lot simpler if you summoned some **Kage Bushin**, ya know?" Naruto said shrugging his shoulders. A moment of silence was created before Tsunade slapped her palm against her forehead.

"I can't believe it was that simple." Tsunade said feeling like an idiot.

"Well, it was good seeing you again baa-chan; later." Naruto said his farwell as he then turned and left the room. They all watched the door with their eyes blinking in surprise.

"Kid's more smart than we give him credit for." Jiraiya said. 'And we don't give him that much to begin with.'

;

.

Naruto was whistling as he walked down the stairs until he accidently bumped into something. Naruto's face was smooshed up agianst the middle of two soft, firm lumps that were of a good size.

'Wow... I don't know why, but these things feel good up against my face.' Naruto thought with a huge perverted smile on his face as his entire face became red. Suddenly he heard someone clear their throat making him look up to see the Anko with a dangerous smirk on her face. Naruto's face transformed into one of an anime style shocked one before he jumped away from her, falling on his butt.

"Y-you! Th-the Crazy Snake Lady!" Naruto exclaimed with new fear as he pointed at Anko.

"Hey gaki." Anko said with a toothy grin.

"I-I'm Sorry! Please Don't Kill Me!" Naruto begged as he bowed at Anko.

"I don't know; perverts usually have to be taught a lesson." Anko said still grinning as she scratched her chin.

"Please! I can't die yet! I have to get stronger!" Naruto continued to beg.

"Stronger? A little gaki like you could never become strong with little tubes like yours that you call arms." Anko said. Naruto then looked up at her with surprise before he felt his bicep to only feel a little muscle. "If you really want to become stronger, you got to get some muscles on those bones." Anko said.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Naruto said with a gloomy look on his face.

"Of course I'm right. Besides, women love men with muscles." Anko said with a smirk.

"They do?" Naruto questioned blinking his eyes with surprise.

"Of course they do!" Anko said with a grin. Naruto then started to think of himself with strong muscles with Sakura touching his bicep with a dreamy like stare in her eyes.

_"Oh Naruto-kun, you're so manly and better than that teme Sasuke." The Sakura of Naruto's imagination said with a dreamy look on her face._

"Okay!" Naruto shouted with new determination surprising Anko. "Thanks Anko sensei!" Naruto thanked Anko as he then ran off. Anko looked at his retreating form with a smirk.

'Cute kid. Too bad he's not older.' Anko thought as she made her way into the Hokage tower.

;

.

Naruto ran towards a shop that sold shinobi gear. It was the only store that not only didn't throw him out, but the store owner actually like him.

"Hey Naruto." Jinbe, the store owner, greeted the genin with a smile.

Jinbe was a tall man with a muscular body, short brunette hair, a brunette sharp beard on his chin, and ice blue eyes. He wore a forest green shirt, brown baggy pants, wrapping tape wrapped around his ankles and forearms and black shinobi sandals and also wore a workshop apron.

"Hey Jinbe." Naruto greeted his friend. "I was wondering if you have any weights that I could use to help build me some muscle on my bones."

"I've been waiting a long time to hear you say that." Jinbe said with a huge grin on his face. Jinbe showed Naruto to the part in his shop that had weights.

"Whoa." Naruto said as he stared at the weights.

"Not a bad collection, huh?" Jinbe said.

"I'll say!" Naruto said as he walked towards a huge dumbbell and tried to lift it but it was too heavy for him. Naruto continued to try and lift it, but as he continue to try, his face turned red. Jinbe then placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder making the blonde look up at him to see him smiling at him.

"Maybe we should start with something a little smaller." Jinbe said.

Jinbe had helped Naruto picked out some dumbbells that he would be able to lift, a barbell with weight plates and weight bench and training weights to help him in his progress of speed with all of them sealed inside sealing scrolls.

"Now remember, even the simplest things like push-ups, sit-ups, and pull-ups can also help in your progress." Jinbe said with a smile.

"Got it! I'm probably going to be as muscular as you when I'm older!" Naruto exclaimed with a grin.

"I doubt it. Your body type is different, but you will be pretty damn muscular if you keep training with those weights." Jinbe said.

"Right!" Naruto nodded as he then paid for the weights. "Thanks again Jinbe." Naruto thanked the shop keep with a bow.

"No problem Naruto, and remember that if you need anything just come to me." Jinbe said with a huge smile on his face.

"Of course! Like I'd ever forget you!" Naruto said with a huge grin that Jinbe shared as well before the blonde left.

;

.

Naruto was in the middle of Team 7's old training ground. Naruto had unsealed the scroll with the barbell and weight bench. Naruto placed the barbell on the holder of the weight bench and put some weight plates into the sides of the barbell.

"I'm going to get some major muscle soon enough." Naruto said as he sat on the weight bench and tried to lift the barbell, but when he did lift it, it fell onto his chest, hurting it. Naruto rapidly moved his legs as he squirmed to try and get the barbell off of him. 'Dammit! Jinbe told me to start out small! Curse my major determination! It's like a double edged sword sometimes!' Naruto thought.

Suddenly the barbell was lift off of him making Naruto turn to see Jiraiya placing the barbell onto the holder.

"Maybe you should start out small." Jiraiya said with half lidded eyes.

"Yeah, I know." Naruto said with some disappointment.

"So what's with the weights?" Jiraiya asked.

"Well, that crazy snake lady Anko said that building muscle is important so I went to Jinbe and bought some weights." Naruto said.

'He went to Jinbe? Damn, that guy is built enough to move boulders without a sweat.' Jiraiya thought. "Building muscle is important gaki, but you can't jump into stuff like this like you do with a jutsu; it's not the same." Jiraiya said. Jiraiya then took of some of the weight plates. "Now try it." Jiraiya said.

Naruto grabbed the barbell and lifted it off the holder. It was heavy, but he was still able to lift it up and bring it down.

"There, better?" Jiraiya asked with a smirk.

"Totally, but I wish I could lift more." Naruto said.

"You will, but it takes time to build muscle, but when you do, all the ladies will come straight to you!" Jiraiya said with a huge grin.

"Yeah... the ladies." Naruto said with a huge smile as he thought about Sakura and other girls drooling over him.

"By the way gaki, if you're serious about training, then you're going to have to stop your constant consumption of ramen." Jiraiya said making Naruto drop the barbell hard on his chest from the shock. Jiraiya then helped Naruto lifted the barbell off of his chest and back onto the holder as the blonde genin started panting.

"NO WAY!" Naruto shouted.

"Look gaki, it's not healthy to eat all of that ramen; you need to add other food groups into your diet." Jiraiya said.

"But-"

"Actually I'm surprised you didn't kill yourself from all that ramen eating over the course of your life." Jiraiya said making Naruto cease his sentence.

"What?" Naruto questioned.

"Oh you didn't know? Well you see if you eat too much of one thing, you could die. Like for example, if someone eats too much fish or eats it every day for the rest of his life then he'll die from the constant consumption since fish have mercury in it and too much of it can kill a person." Jiraiya explained.

"Y-you're k-kidding." Naruto said with a worried look on his face as new fear creeping in his chest.

"Nope. Same goes with having too much meat, too much vegetables and so on. Including ramen." Jiraiya said. Naruto sweated with fear, but had great saddness in his chest as he learned that his most favorite meal could have killed him.

"Th-then how come I'm still alive?" Naruto questioned.

"My guess is that the Kyuubi helped you out there because he didn't want to kick the bucket from a constant diet of ramen." Jiraiya said.

"S-So I Should Give Up Ramen Forever?!" Naruto shouted with fear of giving up his favorite meal.

"No, no, I'm saying you should only have it once in a while." Jiraiya said.

"Well... I guess that's okay." Naruto said.

"Good." Jiraiya said with a smile. He then extended an apple to Naruto with the blonde looking at it for a moment before grabbing it and then started eating it.

"See, better right?" Jiraiya said with a grin.

"I guess." Naruto said as he chewed on the apple. Jiraiya then gave Naruto a basket of vegetables, fruits, meats and a cook book in it.

"Remember, a balance diet is important." Jiraiya said.

"Got it." Naruto said with some disappointment.

"Oh come on, I thought yo wanted to get stronger and gain muscle?" Jiraiya teased with a toothy grin.

"I sometimes hate it when people like you are right." Naruto said with half lidded eyes and an annoyed look on his face making Jiraiya laugh heartedly.

"So you also got some dumbbells with that bar and bench?" Jiraiya asked.

"Yeah, along with training weights like Lee has around his ankles, but I also got some for my arms." Naruto said.

"Good. do twenty more reps with your barbell then do some push-ups, sit-ups, crunches, jumping jacks, then pull ups and then do twenty five with the dumbbells each and then do ten laps around the training grounds with the training weights on." Jiraiya ordered.

"What?!"

"You did say that you wanted to get stronger and build more muscle." Jiraiya said with a shrug of his shoulders. Naruto groaned as he went back to lifting the barbells. "Also it will help if you do push-ups, sit-ups, crunches, jumping jacks and punching and kicking drills in the morning right after you wake up."

"Why?" Naruto asked.

"It's always important to have a morning routine." Jiraiya said. Naruto nodded with understanding as he continued to slowly lift up and bring down the barbell. "Oh and one more thing; when you do the laps, remember that if you stop at all or trip causing you to stop then another lap will be added for each time." Jiraiya said causing Naruto to drop the barbell on his chest again causing him pain. "I'm not helping you this time." Jiraiya said.

"Sadist." Naruto managed to choke out.

"Masochist." Jiraiya retorted with a smirk.

;

.

Sakura was walking around the village. She couldn't believe that Naruto was gone. As much as she didn't want to admit it, but she actually missed the blonde baka. He was actually sweet, kind to her and a very good person. She was actually starting to regret being mean to him; hell she was already fully regretful, but now he was gone for Kami knows how long.

"Naruto... I... I'm sorry..." Sakura said. She then heard someone panting making her look up in time to see Naruto jog passed her. "Naruto?"

"Hi Sakura-chan! *pant, pant* Can't *pant* talk right now." Naruto said as he continued to jog.

Sakura blinked with confusion, wondering why Naruto was still in the village. She then started thinking about what she said before and starting thinking of apologizing to him later on.

;

.

Naruto had tripped a few times earlier so that added a few more laps for him, but he was on his last one.

'I'm almost there.' Naruto thought, but then he bumped into someone and fell on the floor, landing on top of the person. "Aw man~ That's another lap!" Naruto whined. Naruto slowly started lifting himself up only to see that he was staring at Hinata's eyes. "Oh, hey Hinata." Naruto greeted Hinata, but then her face became red as she then was rendered unconscious from the closeness her and Naruto were sharing. "Okay~" Naruto then got off of her and lift her up and placed her up against a tree. "Boy is she weird." Naruto said before he continued jogging.

Unknown to him, Hinata heard him which saddened her greatly.

;

.

Naruto had finally managed to finish his laps as he made it back to Team 7's old training ground and once he did, he fell back onto the ground as he felt the wind against his face.

'Damn... what a day.' Naruto thought.

"Resting I see." Naruto turned his head slightly to see Kakashi. "Yo." Kakashi greeted Naruto with his hand up in greeting as well.

"Hey Kaka-sensi, what's up?" Naruto greeted his sensei.

"Well I was actually going to ask you the same thing seeing as that you're still in the village." Kakashi said with his arms crossed.

"I decided to stay because I'd be weaker if I had left." Naruto said looking up into the sky.

"Weaker?" Kakashi questioned with surprise.

"From what Iruka sensei had told me, the Hokage had become stronger because of the bonds they made with others in their past. If I left, I wouldn't have those bonds which means I wouldn't be getting stronger the way they did, 'ttebayo." Naruto said. Kakashi smiled underneath his mask; happy that Naruto had realized how important bonds were.

"Naruto..."

"Hm?" Naruto turned his head slightly to his sensei.

"I gotta say... I'm really starting to like you." Kakashi said with an eye smile. Naruto then screamed making Kakashi look at him with surprise as the blonde scurried away from him with a disgusted look on his face.

"Don't say weird shit like that, you freak!" Naruto exclaimed as he pointed at Kakashi with disgust on his face.

"I didn't mean it like _that_." Kakashi said as he started walking towards Naruto.

"Back Off!" Naruto yelled.

"You see, I, uh..."

"No! Stay Away! Go Get Laid By A Woman! I Heard Shizune-nee-chan Is Available! Just Get Away!" Naruto shouted as he got up off from the ground and ran as far away from Kakashi as possible.

Kakashi just blinked his eye as he saw the dust cloud his student was creating from his speed.

"You know, you did make it sound weird when you said it like that." Jiraiya said with a smirk as he appeared next to Kakashi making him sigh.

"I should really be more wary of what I say when I'm around his generation." Kakashi said.

"You know, he did give you a good idea; and I heard that Shizune has nothing else better to do today." Jiraiya said with a perverted grin making Kakashi blush behind his mask.

;

.

Naruto panted as he sat against a tree.

"I hope I'm as far away from that sensei of mine as possible." Naruto said as he continued to pant. Suddenly Naruto heard a whizzing sound as he looked up in time to see a kunai coming traight at him. Naruto moved to the side and screamed as the kunai was stabbed into the bark of the tree right next to his face.

"Huh?" Naruto looked up to see Tenten. "Naruto? What are you doing here?"

"Trying to stay away from Kakashi sensei; why are you trying to kill me?!" Naruto exclaimed.

"It's not my fault you were in the way!" Tenten argued.

"Why are throwing kunai's at trees anyway?" Naruto asked.

"Duh! Training." Tenten said with her hands on her hips.

"Huh. You know I've always been interested in weapons." Naruto said.

"Really?" Tenten asked a little surprised.

"Yeah. Well, swords anyway." Naruto said as he tried standing up, but the weights were keeping him in place. "Damn weights." Naruto cursed. Tenten extended her hand to Naruto which he gladly accepted as she struggled to help him stand up.

"What's with the weights?" Tenten asked as she finally helped Naruto stand on his own to feet.

"I'm planning on getting stronger, and one of the things that's help is building speed and muscle!" Naruto exclaimed with a huge grin.

"Who told you that?" Tenten asked.

"Well the muscle thing I heard from Anko sensei." Naruto said.

'Then I can't argue with her, unless I want to die.' Tenten thought.

"And the speed I heard from Jinbe at the Engraving Kunai shop; he also agreed on the muscle."

"Uncle Jinbe?"

"Wait, Jinbe's your uncle?" Naruto questioned with shock.

"Well not really. He and my dad have been best friends since they were young. He was made my godfather, but I've always called him uncle when I was younger. He actually help me realized my calling for being a weapons mistress." Tenten explained.

"Oh~ that makes sense." Naruto said.

"So you're interested in swords?" Tenten asked.

"Yeah! I've always liked those huge ones that look heavy to lift but also look like they can leave a nasty mark." Naruto said with a huge grin.

"You mean a broadsword? They're pretty tough to wield, plus they can be mistaken for compensating something." Tenten said.

"Compensating?" Naruto questioned.

"I know what it means."

"Really?" Tenten questioned with surprise.

"Yeah, I'm not an idiot." Naruto said with a shrug of his shoulders.

'That's debatable.' Tenten thought.

"What the hell would it compensate for?" Naruto questioned. Tenten looked down at Naruto's pants and notice a slight bump at the pant leg a little lower from the crotch area making her blush a bit at the thought of the size.

"I-it's nothing important." Tenten quickly said making Naruto develop a confused look up on his face. 'I can't believe he's actually that big... I can't believe I'm actually thinking of such a thing! And of Naruto of all people!' Tenten thought as her blush deepened.

"Are you okay?" Naruto asked. Tenten quickly shook her head to erase her dirty thoughts.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine." Tenten said still blushing a bit.

"Say... maybe you can help train me in weaponry, Tenten!" Naruto exclaimed with new hope in his eyes.

"Me?" Tenten questioned

"Yeah, why not?"

"Well, I don't know." Tenten said blushing slightly.

"Oh come on! You're one of the best kunoichi I know! Your skills with weapons are freaking awesome! If there's anyone I want to learn about weapons from it's definately you!" Naruto said with a grin.

Tenten blushed at Naruto's words; she didn't expect Naruto to think so highly of her. 'Wow... I never expected any of this from Naruto of all people.' Tenten thought.

"So will you please help me with my training Tenten?" Naruto asked.

"Well..." Tenten still was a bit reluctant.

"Please, please, please, please, please, please, please-"

"Okay, okay, just stop begging already." Tenten said.

"Yatta!" Naruto cheered as he jumped into the air.

"Just meet me back here three days from now, okay?" Tenten said.

"Got it!" Naruto agreed with a nod and a huge grin on his face.

"Tenten, Where Are you?!" Lee's voice echoed.

"I better go; remember, here, three days from now." Tenten said.

"You got it, Tenten!" Naruto said with a mock salute and a huge grin on his face. Tenten gave him one last nod before she grabbed her kunai that was still stuck in the tree and ran off.

'Sweet! I'm going to get so strong! I just know it!' Naruto cheered within his mind.

"I see that you've made plans with Tenten." Naruto turned to see Gai sensei.

"Oh, hey Super Bushy Brows sensei." Naruto greeted Gai who decided to ignore Naruto's nickname for him.

"So you are interested in training huh Naruto-kun?" Gai said with a smile.

"Yeah, I am." Naruto said with a nod.

"Well if that's true, then how about I assist you in learning taijutsu!" Gai offered.

"Huh?"

"Well, no offense Naruto-kun, but from what I saw back in the Chunin exams, your taijutsu is quite... well..."

"I get it." Naruto said.

"Right! Which is why I want to assist you in becoming better in the art of taijutsu!" Gai exclaimed with a proud grin.

"Really?" Naruto said with excitement, but then a thought came to his head. "Wait a minute, do I have to wear that green bodysuit you and Lee wear again?" Naruto questioned, still in disbelief that he actually wore that bodysuit.

"No. Unless you want to; I always carry a spare." Gai said pulling out a green spandex bodysuit out of nowhere.

"No, I'm fine." Naruto said with a sweat drop expression and his hands up in defense.

"I understand, but remember that I always have one for your youthful needs!" Gai exclaimed.

"Glad to hear that." Naruto said, only so he wouldn't make Gai sad. "So you'll help me in taijutsu?"

"Of course! Meet me at training ground nine the day after your training session with Tenten!" Gai said.

"Understood!" Naruto said with a nod.

"Yosh! Now I am off!" Gai then used his amazing speed to disappear from sight.

"Man, so that's how fast Super Bushy Brows sensei is from using training weights? I would use these every day if Jinbe didn't warn me about them stunting my growth." Naruto said as he looked at the training weights tied around his ankles and forearms.

Naruto then looked up at the trees and saw that they had sturdy branches, so Naruto decided use them to do some pulls-ups. Naruto sent chakra to his feet as he then placed them on the tree and started to climb the tree, but it was really hard for him since he had the weights on and because of that, he fell on his butt.

"Dammit! Great, back to learning how to do this again." Naruto said with annoyance as he started to try and climb to the top of the tree again.

After a couple more fails, Naruto finally made it to the top and grabbed onto a branch. Naruto felt the weights heaviness as he felt that he would fall any minute, but the little blonde baka was determined as he started doing his pull-ups, but this time with the training weights which made it a living pain.

Literally.

;

.

It was late in the afternoon, and Naruto had finally finished his desired reps on pull-ups along with chin-ups, hanging upside down sit ups and later handstand push ups.

The last one being a pain in the ass because of the weights tied around his forearms and forelegs which made lifting himself up on a handstand torturous.

Naruto laid on his back and panted for a while before he spun over onto his stomach and lifted himself up on his hands and knees.

"Damn... my arms and legs hurt." Naruto said as he wiped the sweat from his brow. Naruto then slowly stood up onto his feet as he looked into the sky as he panted.

"Well then that's good." Naruto turned to see Kakashi. "AH!"

"Calm down, if what I said earlier made you feel... well, you know, then I hate you; is that better?"

"... Strangely yes." Naruto said. "Kakashi sensei, how do I cook?"

"Oh well, you do have a cook book right?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah, Ero-sennin gave me one and I had a clone put it along with some food back at my apartment." Naruto said.

"Any you do remember when it got there, right?" Kakashi asked.

"Why would I-" then started to see images of what his clone had done. "What the hell?!"

"I'm guessing you saw what your clone did before he disappeared." Kakashi said.

"Yeah! How the hell did you know?" Naruto asked.

"Well you see the clone jutsu is more for recieving information than in battle. Whatever the clone does, once it disappears the information comes back to the caster. It also helps with training; albeit not physically, but mentally like getting used to an exercise. Like for example if you create a single clone and try out water walking for an hour, when it disperses you don't just get one hour of training, but two hours mentally." Kakashi explained.

"And the reason you didn't tell me this?" Naruto asked starting to get really pissed off at his sensei.

"I thought you figured it out." Kakashi simply said.

"ARE YOU KIDDING?! I FOUGHT HAKU, WHO WAS A FAST MOTHER FUCKER WITH A KEKKEI GENKAI, KIBA, THE ANNOYING HEIR OF THE INUZUKA CLAN, NEJI, THE HYUUGA PRODIGY, GAARA, A JINCHURIKI LIKE ME, SASUKE AFTER HE WAS HYPED UP ON THE POWER OF THE CURSE MARK AND LET'S NOT FORGET OROCHIMARU BACK IN THE FOREST OF DEATH! AND YOU EXPECT ME TO CATCH ONTO SOMETHING LIKE THAT WHILE FIGHTING OPPONENTS LIKE THAT! ESPECIALLY SINCE I'M NOT KNOWN FOR USING MY HEAD!" Naruto screamed at his sensei.

Kakashi just blinked in shock as he now realized Naruto had a very excellent point.

"Good point... um... my bad." Kakashi said with a bit of an embarrassed look in his eye.

"You owe me." Naruto said sounding very menacing with his eyes narrowed.

"That depends, what do I owe you?"

"Real training. No latenesses, no excuses, no blowing me off; you and me. You are going to live up to the title sensei whether you like it or not." Naruto said as he pointed at Kakashi and glared at him menacingly.

"And if I refuse?" Kakashi asked. Naruto then started walking up to him which worried Kakashi a bit.

"You know of the pranks I've done in my past. You know the horrors I've done, especially to shinobi. The fear I've struck from the multitudes of tricks I've pulled. Painting building in my respective color, switching fresh food with trashed food inside the cafeterias of the academy and ANBU headquarters, laxatives inside of peoples coffees, including old man Third's, and hair balder inside of shampoo bottles."

"Wait, you did that to Gai?" Kakashi questioned with rising fear.

"That's right, so unless you want to be wearing a tutu with balls sticky glued to your chest, you better show up and not cross me." Naruto threatened making Kakashi sweat a bit.

"You're forgetting I'm a Jonin." Kakashi said with an eye smile.

"I've out foxed ANBU. You think the title of Jonin would give me pause?" Naruto said making Kakashi's eye widen with fear. "Saturday, 8 AM sharp; you better be there unless you want to wear a hat for the next few years." Naruto said as he then left.

"Wh-why is that?" Kakashi questioned.

"Well it depends on you actually; if you're comfortabe with walking around bald or not." Naruto said as he continued walking away, leaving a sweating, fearful Kakashi.

'Sandaime-sama did warn me about pissing him off; I just didn't expect him to be this frightening when he's been pushed over the edge.' Kakashi thought as he watched his student walk away.

;

.

Naruto trekked down the path heading straight towards his apartment.

'I wonder if I would be able to cook okay? Maybe a little help from my clones would help.' Naruto thought.

;

.

'That wasn't so tough.' Naruto thought as he took out a perfectly cooked piece of meat and put it on a plate.

After a few tries with the help of his clones, Naruto managed to make an edible meal of cooked meat with steamed vegetables and well made fried rice balls.

'It smells good.' Naruto thought as he placed the steamed vegetables and fried rice balls on his plate. Naruto placed it on the table and then prayed.

"Itadakimasu!" Naruto said as he then grabbed his fork and knife. Naruto then stabbed his meat and used his knife to cut the meat. Once the meat was cut, he put the meat in his mouth, chewed on it and then swallowed it. "Hm... not bad I guess, but I still feel like I can do better." Naruto said as he then took one of the fried rice balls and took a bite out of it. "Not bad, but still I could do better." Naruto said. Naruto then took some of the steamed vegetables and had some. "Man, even the vegetables could have been made better and vegetables pretty much taste the same." Naruto said.

"I've got a lot to learn." Naruto said.

"True but it still smells good." Naruto turned to see Jiraiya at his window. "Can I join?"

"Go ahead." Naruto said shrugging his shoulders.

Jiraiya fixed himself a plate of the dinner Naruto made and had some.

"Mm, not bad Naruto; even for a first try it's still good." Jiraiya said with a smile.

"Well at least I know my cooking isn't that bad." Naruto said.

"So how was your first day of training?" Jiraiya asked.

"Exhausting and my limbs hurt." Naruto answered with a deadpanned expression.

"Good, that means you're getting stronger. You'll build up some muscle soon enough." Jiraiya said with a smile.

"I also got Tenten to help me in training with weapons, along with Gai sensei with taijutsu and I finally got Kaka-sensei to finally teach me something after brushing me off for so long for Sasuke-teme." Naruto said.

"Wait, what was that last one?" Jiraiya asked.

"Huh? Oh, Kakashi sensei has been brushing me off for Sasuke-teme." Naruto repeated.

"Really." Jiraiya said as he started to feel disappointment in Kakashi.

"He did the same thing to Sakura-chan. In fact the only thing he's ever taught us was to never abondon a comrade and the tree walking exercise." Naruto explained.

Okay forget being disappointed, Jiraiya was down right pissed off at the masked shinobi and wanted to lay down a beating he would never forget. He probably would bring Tsunade along to really teach him a lesson.

"Don't worry about him thought, I threatened to make him bald and transform him into a woman manually with sticky glue, a pair of balls, and a tutu." Naruto explained.

Jiraiya had a pretty good idea what that last one was about.

"Say kid, since we're on the subject on you becoming a better shinobi, it's best that you change your shinobi attire as well into something less... colorful." Jiraiya suggested.

"The Hell I Will!" Naruto shouted.

"Come on gaki, I'm just trying to help." Jiraiya said as he took a bite out of one of Naruto's rice balls "Mm, good rice balls." Jiraiya complimented.

"Thanks." Naruto thanked Jiraiya before he sighed in defeat; help was what he stayed in Konoha for. "Okay... what do you got."

"Can't go wrong with black." Jiraiya said with a smile as he shrugged his shoulders.

"Could I at least still wear a little orange?" Naruto asked.

"You can wear the color as civilian clothes." Jiraiya said.

"That's only way I'd stay with my favorite color huh?" Naruto said with some disappointment.

"Sorry kid." Jiraiya said with a shrug of his shoulders making Naruto sigh.

"Well I guess Jinbe could help with that. The man does also sell shinobi gear." Naruto said.

"Wow, that guy sells everything, huh?" Jiraiya said as he chewed on the steamed vegetables with some meat.

"Yeah. He had to bump up some things to keep him in business. It's been like that since that shifty salesman came to the village those years ago." Naruto said.

"How come the two of you are so tight?" Jiraiya asked.

"Tight? Kami, you really are old." Naruto said.

"Just answer my question." Jiraiya said with a dull annoyed look on his face.

"Well it was all thanks to that shifty salesman. You see, Jinbe was always nice to me, but after a deal we made we became very good friends. I get rid of the salesman, he gave me some essentials at a discount." Naruto said.

"What exactly did you do to him?" Jiraiya asked.

"You ever heard of that guy with ninety eight percent of his body running straight out of the village leaving a dust cloud from where he ran?" Naruto asked with a devious smirk on his face.

"Yeah." Jiraiya said with a uneased look on his face.

"That handiwork was me." Naruto said with a grin as his teeth grew a bit into fangs. Jiraiya looked at Naruto with utter shock at what he had just heard he had done.

"You're a monster." Jiraiya said.

"It's called doing bussiness." Naruto said shrugging his shoulders.

"Well whatever you call it, I don't really blame the guy for high tailing it out of here." Jiraiya said feeling a little weary of Naruto.

"Jinbe said the same thing." Naruto said with a smile.

"Well he wasn't wrong." Jiraiya said as he placed his now finished plate inside of Naruto's sink. "Well, good talk gaki, thanks for the meal and see you later." Jiraiya said as he then **shushined **away.

"Bastard! Leaving me with his dirty dish." Naruto said with annoyance.

After finishing his dinner, Naruto cleaned his plate, along with Jiraiya's and then took a shower before going to bed.

;

.

Naruto woke up the next morning feeling refreshed.

"Man, I've never been up early before on a day off." Naruto said with a grin.

Naruto then decided to do a morning routine of twenty push-ups, twenty sit-ups, thirty crunches, twenty jumping jack, fifteen handstand push-ups and then did some punching and kicking drills. Then he unsealed his weights and started using the dumbbells, doing twenty reps for for each arm. After being done with that, Naruto unbuttoned his pajama shirt and went to his bench and started on his barbell, but not before creating a shadow clone to spot him.

Suddenly a knock came to his door.

"It's open!" Naruto called out. The door then opened and coming into his apartment was Sakura. "S-Sakura-chan!" Naruto exclaimed the kunoichi's name in shock as he dropped the barbell on his chest again from the shock that Sakura was in his home. Sakura looked at Naruto to see that his torso was only covered by an undershirt as a clone helped him lift up the barbell and placed it onto the holder. "H-hey, Sakura-chan; this is a bit of a surprise." Naruto said trying to act cool.

"You mean a lot." The clone said.

"Urusai." Naruto hissed to his clone.

Sakura was surprised to see Naruto up so early and exercising with weight equipment, but then again the man was determined to bring back Sasuke so he'll probably do anything to get stronger.

"A-anyway, is there something I can help you with?" Naruto asked.

"You mean 'we'." The Naruto clone said.

"We're technically the same person!"

"Ah, damare." The clone told the original to shut up as he and the original Naruto started to glare at each other. Sakura sighed at her teammate's behavior.

"I-I came because... I wanted to apologize." Sakura said blushing and looking away in embarrassment. Naruto and his clone ceased their glaring contest and looked at Sakura in confusion.

"For what?" The two both asked.

"For... for all I've done to you ever since our days in the academy and back when we all were a part of Team 7." Sakura said feeling guilty.

"What do you mean?" Naruto asked getting off the weight bench and sitting up.

"All the beatings and me being a total... a total... bitch." Sakura said feeling like a horible person for what she has done to Naruto. Naruto didn't like to see Sakura sad so he made his way to her and placed a hand on her shoulder making her look up at him.

"Sakura-chan, don't feel that way." Naruto said with a comforting smile.

"How can I not?" Sakura questioned. "I've been so horrible to you."

"No you haven't, you were just teaching me a lesson." Naruto said shrugging his shoulders.

"I hit you because I considered you annoying!"

"But I was annoying." Naruto said. "Sakura, when I acted like an idiot or when I was taking things too far, you always hit me and that's usually when I deserved it. Everytime you laid the smackdown on me, I felt that you cared for me you know? And... it made me smile that someone would care for me so much." Naruto said making Sakura look at him in surprise. "Arigatou, Sakura-chan." Naruto thanked her with his trademark grin making her eyes widen with shock as it they started to tear up.

"Why... why are you so forgiving?! Why are you so nice to someone as mean as me?! Why are you showing me such kindness when-"

"Sakura-chan." Sakura blinked her eyes as she stared at Naruto who smiled softly at her. "Just smile." Naruto said shocking Sakura once again.

"Why do you even want to se me smile?" Sakura questioned.

"B-because... I like your smile." Naruto said blushing as he looked away in embarrassment. Sakura's eyes widen with shock at hearing Naruto's words.

"Y-you... you like it when I-I smile?" Sakura asked.

"Well... yeah... I was a little afraid to tell you before, but I felt now was okay." Naruto admitted. Sakura blushed as she stared at Naruto.

"What else do you like about me?" Sakura asked surprising Naruto.

"W-well... I like your eyes... they're really pretty. Your hair is really pretty too. I like your style. Your personality makes me smile. You're the strongest girl I know. Your confidence inspires me." The more Naruto list about what he liked about Sakura, the moree his blush deepened. Sakura's eyes shimmered as she stared at Naruto as her own cheeks developed a deep blush. "A-and..." Sakura listened very closely to what Naruto was going to say next. "Your forehead... it's so wide and charming... that... it just makes me want to kiss it." Naruto said with a smile.

Sakura developed a shocked look on her face as her eyes widen greatly with major shock as she remembered those words.

_"Sakura... your forehead is so wide and charming... it just makes me want to kiss it."_

Sakura realized those were the same words that Sasuke said on team assignment day, but then she remembered the words he said next that made her realize the truth.

_"Just kidding. That's something Naruto would say."_

Something he would say indeed.

"It was you." Sakura said earning a confused look from Naruto. "You henged as Sasuke that day and said the same thing." Sakura said making Naruto have a frightened shocked look on his face.

"I-I, w-well you see..." Naruto then lift his arm up and smelled his pit. "Woo, I better go take a shower! Thanks for the visit Sakura-chan! Later!" Naruto quickly said as he ran into the bathroom.

Sakura then looked to the clone who immediately dispell himself. Sakura looked towards the bathroom door before she smiled with a blush on her forehead.

'He thinks my forehead is charming and kissable.' Sakura thought as she tightly touched her forehead. Sakura then walked towards the door and knocked on it. "Naruto... you better bring me flowers later! Or else I'll hunt you down and make you!" Sakura called out to him before she then decided to leave the apartment and keave Naruto to his business.

On the other side of the door, Naruto blushed as he felt his heart stop.

'S-Sakura-chan... wants me to bring her flowers?' Naruto thought before a huge grin creeped onto his face as tears of joy came from his eyes.

"YATTA!"

Sakura heard Naruto's cheers from downstair which made her giggle.

"That baka." Sakura said with a smile as she then left.

;

.

Naruto walked down the street with a huge grin plastered on his face as he made his way towards Jinbe's shop. Naruto ignored the usual glares but he couldn't resist saying something.

"Glare all you want, but none of it is going to get to me today!" Naruto cheered with a huge grin on his face. Some of the villagers wondered what was up with Naruto today, but they just shrugged it off and continued on with their own business.

Naruto finally made it through the doors of Jinbe's shop to see the big guy with Tenten.

"Sup Jinbe! Good morning Tenten-chan!" Naruto greeted the two making Jinbe laugh heartedly while Tenten blushed at the suffix Naruto used at the end of her name.

"Hey Naruto! I didn't know you were friends with my little niece." Jinbe said with a huge grin on his face.

"Yeah, we go back to the Chunin exams." Naruto said as he was now infront of the two.

"Well she told me that you were wanting to train with her." Jinbe said.

"Yeah, that's right. Two days from now she'll be training me with weapons." Naruto said with a grin on his face.

"Well my little niece here told me that you're interested in broadswords." Jinbe said ruffling Tenten's hair.

"Uncle!" Tenten then slapped away Jinbe's hand from her head. "What did I tell you about ruffling my hair."

"Sorry Panda-chan." Jinbe said with a apologetic smile.

"Panda-chan! I like that!" Naruto said with a grin.

"You better not-"

"So what can I do for you Naruto?" Jinbe asked, interrupting Tenten.

"Well you see, that old pervert, Ero-sennin told me that I have to stop wearing orange, unless they are worn as civilian clothes." Naruto explained.

"Orange didn't seem that bad." Jinbe said.

"Quit trying to encourage him Jinbe-oji-san." Tenten scolded her 'uncle'.

"Anyway, I came here because-"

"Sorry to interrupt, but behold!" Jinbe then showed Naruto Naruto an outfit of a black zip up jacket with a black jacket underneath it, black fingerless gloves, black pants with black boots. "Made of a strong material that fire cannot penatrate, dries off water quickly than normal clothing, sturdy and durable on the field and of course it's fashionable." Jinbe then showed that the palms of the gloves had white seals on them. "Storage seals on the palms of the gloves that connect and respond to your nervous system which helps in sending in a command on what to summon of the whatever you had sealed inside them." Jinbe then stretched the jacket a bit. "Also very flexible and will grow with you for a number of years. Plus it's easy to wash." Jinbe said with a huge smile.

Naruto and Tenten blinked at him for a moment before either one of them said a thing.

"You planned on giving me this weren't you?" Naruto asked with a smirk.

"Nothing against your usual attire; I actually was okay with it because it was unique and I thought you were pretty ballsy going on mission and going into battle with that jumpsuit on." Jinbe said.

"Jinbe, you always know how to make me smile." Naruto said with his trademark grin.

"Glad to hear it!" Jinbe said with his own grin.

"How long have you had this oji-san?" Tenten asked.

"Ever since Naruto told me he was going to become a genin when he got his headband, I started development on this thing. I made it in time for the Chunin exams and when I heard that he made it to the finals, I was holding it for a congratulatory gift to the little guy." Jinbe said.

"Hey! I'm not little!" Naruto shouted.

"Here." Jinbe said giving it to Naruto.

"How much?" Naruto asked.

"What are you talking about? Didn't you hear me earlier? It's a gift. I also got more in the back for you!" Jinbe said with a grin. Naruto looked at Jinbe with a surprised look on his face before he started to tear up with a smile on his face.

"Arigatou Jinbe." Naruto thanked the shopkeeper.

"Anytime Naruto." Jinbe said with a smile. Naruto then suddenly hugged Jinbe, surprising the man before he smiled and hugged Naruto back. Tenten smiled at the two before they seperated. "By the way, I plan on making you that broadsword." Jinbe said with a smile.

"Really?!" Naruto asked with excitement.

"Hell yeah! When you see it, I guarentee that you'll fall in love with it!" Jinbe said with a huge grin.

"If it's made from you, then I know that I will!" Naruto said with a grin.

The two then laughed heartedly.

"You two are a pair of energetic idiots." Tenten said shaking her head making Naruto and Jinbe look at her with surprised face before the three then laughed heartedly.

(By the way, I got the idea for the new outfit from a drawing I saw of Naruto made by E-vay. She only drew the jacket, black undershirt and gloves in the drawing; the pants and boots I made up myself. She draws a lot of Naruto drawings; and from the drawings I saw, she's a major NaruSaku fan as well.)

;

.

Naruto walked down the street in his new outfit with a huge smile on his face. He also tied his hitai-ate around his neck instead of his forehead, had the sleeves stop a little below his elbow with the sleeves stopping halfway at his forearm and had the zipper zipped down halfway at his chest ( that was also in the drawing my E-vay). People noticed his new attire and wer surprised and shocked that he actually changed out of his favorite color.

Naruto made it to the Yamanaka flower shop and entered through the door making the bell ring. Naruto saw Ino at the counter reading a magazine before she greeted him.

"Welcome to the Yamanaka flower shop, how may I- Naruto?!" Ino noticed Naruto's change of clothing which shocked her since there was no orange anywhere on him.

"Hey Ino." Naruto said.

"What happened to your jumpsuit?" Ino asked now interested.

"Ero-sennin told me to get rid of it." Naruto said.

"Who?" Ino asked.

"You know, Jiraiya." Naruto said.

"You don't even show respect to a sannin? What the hell Naruto?"

"He peeps on women at the onsen and calls it research." Naruto said with a deadpanned expression making Ino blink in surprise.

"Okay, you're right, he's a pervert." Ino said. "So let me guess, flowers for forehead?" Ino asked rhetorically.

"Yep and what a beautiful forehead it is!" Naruto said with a grin.

"That's debatable." Ino said.

"Maybe to you, but to me, it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in the world." Naruto said with a dreamy smile.

"Oh brother/**Oh brother."**

"What did you say?" Naruto asked.

"I said 'oh brother'. What? Is your hearing messed up or something?"

"Sorry, it's just I thought I heard someone else say the same thing like you, but they had a deeper voice." Naruto said. The deeper voice he heard earlier was from his inner beast, the Kyuubi, but the fox wasn't going to tell him jack shit. "Anyway, I'd like a bouquet of sakura blossoms, violets, poppies, roses and ochids, please."

"Wow, I didn't know you knew so much about flowers and their meanings." Ino said with shock.

"I memorized the meanings for this special day. Orchids for her strength, poppies for compassion, roses for my passion, violets for my love and of course I can't give her a bouquet without a sakura flower because that's who she is, the constant renewal of my affection for her as time goes on and every time I see her." Naruto said with a smile.

Ino looked at him utter shock. She was shellshocked as she stared at Naruto in disbelief at the fact that he knew so much about flowers and their meanings.

"So can I have some please." Naruto asked.

"Y-yeah... coming right up." Ino said still in disbelief as she went to get the flowers.

After waiting a while, Ino brought the bouquet of flowers to Naruto before she rung them up. Naruto paid for them and was about to leave but then he thought about doing something nice for Ino for giving him the bouquet. Naruto took out a violet and extended it to Ino surprising her.

"I thought of you when I saw it." Naruto said with a smile. Ino blushed a deep shade of red as her eyes widen in shock. She then took the flower and looked at it. "Arigatou Ino-chan." Naruto said as he then left the store.

Ino's blush became a deeper shade of red from the suffix Naruto added at the end of her name. Ino then looked at the flower and smiled softly at it.

'That was actually really sweet, especially coming from Naruto.' Ino thought as she continued to smile at the flower.

The violet which mean love.

;

.

Naruto hopped onto the top of buildings, but he made sure that the wind didn't harm the bouquet of flowers he was carrying. Naruto then landed on the balcony that was just outside of Sakura's room. Naruto saw Sakura brushing her hair through her glass sliding door. Naruto smiled at her, admiring her beauty. Naruto then knocked lightly on her glass door making Sakura turn to him.

Sakura placed her brush down on her drawer as she stood up, cleaning some imaginary dust off of her dress before heading to the door and slid it open.

"Ohayo Sakura-chan." Naruto greeted her with a grin, but then she punched the back of his head.

"Baka, what if I was getting dressed." Sakura scolded him.

"G-gomen." Naruto said. "See, I deserved that." Naruto said with a grin.

"You're too sweet sometimes." Sakura said with a soft smile and blush.

"What? I learned a valuable lesson thanks to you." Naruto said still smiling as he shrugged his shoulders. "A-anyway, I-I got you these." Naruto said extending the flowers to her. Sakura blushed as she took the flowers. "They all remind me of you." Naruto said. Sakura examined the flowers and thanks to the fact that she learned some meanings for certain flowers, she knew what the meaning for each meant which made her blush.

'Orchid means strength, poppies for compassion, roses for passion, violets for love and...' Sakura then looked up at Naruto. "What's the sakura blossom for?" Sakura asked.

"For renewal." Naruto said blushing a bit.

"Renewal for what?"

"M-my affections... for everytime I see and think about you." Naruto confessed looking to the ground in embarrassment as his cheeks turned red. Sakura blinked in surprise before she smile at Naruto.

"Arigatou." Sakura said making Naruto look at her with a smile. After a moment of silence, Sakura spoke again. "So what's with the change of clothes?" Sakura asked.

"Ero-sennin told me to get rid of it. I didn't like it, but he said he was just trying to help so I listened." Naruto explained.

"Well he wasn't wrong." Sakura said.

"Yeah, well at least I can still wear it as civilian clothes." Naruto said.

"Oh no, no way, not that jumpsuit." Sakura said.

"But I don't have anything else orange to wear." Naruto said.

"Then we'll go shopping." Sakura said.

"But... well... unless you haven't noticed, people don't really like me, especially the shopkeepers and even if they do allow me in they usually bump up the price expensively. In fact only Jinbei from the Engraving Kunai's ever been so nice to me and has allowed me in his store." Naruto explained.

"Well, if they don't like the idea then they'll have to deal with me and the Hokage later if they don't comply." Sakura said.

"Really?"

"Of course! Shannaro!" Sakura shouted with a grin as she thrust her fist up and placed her hand on her bicep while the bouquet was being held in her arm. Sakura's eyes widen as she realized she became outspoken again. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be; that's another thing I like about you! I love how outspoken you can be." Naruto said with a grin. Sakura blushed and had a look of surprise before she smiled at Naruto.

"Naruto..."

"Hm?"

"I think... I think I'm really starting to like you." Sakura said with a smiling. Naruto then looked at Sakura with a shocked expression and a blush on his cheeks. "I-I mean like, like as a friend, not as, well, you know, I'm saying that-" Sakura stuttered, but then Naruto placed a hand on Sakura's shoulder making her look at his smiling face.

"I get it." Naruto said still smiling making Sakura smile. Suddenly the door to Sakura's room opened revealing Sakura's mother, Mebuki Haruna, walking into the room with a laundry basket in her hands.

"Sakura, I came to drop off your laundry." Mebuki said but then she noticed Naruto with Sakura at the balcony. "What in the world is going on here?!" Mebuki demanded answers.

"Oh, kaa-san, um, you remember Naruto." Sakura said with a bit of a nervous smile on her face.

"U-um, k-konichiwa H-Haruno-san, you look lovely today." Naruto said with a bow. Mebuki just narrowed her eyes at the blonde making him sweat a bit from fear. "W-well, I-I don't want to keep you from Sakura-chan, so I better go." Naruto said as he turned to Sakura. "Bye Sakura-chan." Naruto said his farwell to Sakura before he then jumped off the balcony and onto the roof of the building.

"Well you scared him off." Sakura said.

"At least he know to fear me." Mebuki said with a smile. "He's a sweet boy and I actually like how polite he can be but seeing a boy in my little blossom's room still doesn't sit well with me." Mebuki said as she started placing Sakura's clothes on her bed.

"Mom~ I can handle myself just fine." Sakura whined.

"You'll understand when you're a mother." Mebuki said putting the last of Sakura's clothes on her bed, but then she noticed the bouquet of flowers in Sakura's arms. "Oh, did your little boyfriend give those to you?" Mebuki teased.

"Mom~"

"Oh calm down Sakura, I'm just teasing." Mebuki giggled as she started leaving the room as Sakura sighed. "Just don't give me grandchildren too soon." Mebuki teased.

"Mom!"

"What about granchildren?" Kizashi, Sakura's father, called out.

"Dad, not you too!"

;

.

"Wow, so that was Sakura's mother." Naruto said as he made i to the training ground Team 7 trained in. "Man, no wonder Sakura's so hot, her mother's a stone cold fox." Naruto said as he remembered how good looking Mrs. Haruno was.

"Whoa! So you finally got into MILFs, huh gaki? I'm proud!" Jiraiya said with a huge perverted grin as he appeared in front of Naruto.

"D-damare!" Naruto shouted.

"Don't feel so bashful gaki; it's only natural." Jiraiya said still grinning.

"Aren't you supposed to be doing your own perverted thing?" Naruto said with annoyance.

"Well as much as I gladly want to do so, I came here to help you out in your ninjutsu." Jiraiya said.

"So you're going to teach me some fire jutsus?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"Now let's not get onto that level just yet. Let's start off small." Jiraiya said

"Like what?" Naruto asked.

"Like enlarging the size and mass of your **Rasengan**." Jiraiya said.

'That sounds small to him.' Naruto thought with a dull look on his face.

"But first, this." Jiraiya took out a piece of paper.

"What's that?" Naruto asked raising an eyebrow.

"It's a special paper made from a tree that reacts to chakra in a special way. You see if you pump your chakra into this paper, it will determine what your affinity nature is." Jiraiya explained. 'But I have a good idea what his affinity nature is.'

"Affinity nature?" Naruto questioned.

"Yeah, you know, what your element is." Jiraiya said.

"Oh. So how will it tell me what my nature is?" Naruto asked.

"I'll show you." Jiraiya said as he sent chakra to the paper and suddenly it was consumed by fire and one part of it was sliced off as it burned. "See. When it burns it means that your affinity nature is fire."

"Oh. So why was part of it cut then?" Naruto asked.

"Well in some instances people do have a second nature."

"Really?" Naruto asked getting really excited.

"Yeah, you see when the paper gets either sliced in half or only a part of it is sliced off then that means that your affinity is wind, but only a little bit of my paper was cut off which means that my affinity for wind is only minor while the majority of my elemental affinity is fire." Jiraiya explained.

"Oh. Let me try then!" Naruto said as he jumped excitingly.

"Alright, alright, hold your horses; a little advice kid, women like a man who's calm and smooth, not bounce off the wall jittery, got it?"

"Understood Ero-sennin!" Naruto exclaimed with a grin and a mock salute making Jiraiya develop a sweat drop expression.

'No respect, even when I give him helpful advice.' Jiraiya thought. Jiraiya then gave Naruto a piece of the same paper he had used.

"So what about the other elements?" Naruto asked.

"You asked. Good; now I know you're paying attention." Jiraiya said with a grin making Naruto glare at him. "Anyway, as you saw before, it ignites and turns into ash when fire is your affinity and it gets sliced when wind is your affinity. The others which are, water, earth and lightning obviously have different effects. The paper will become wet and damp when your affinity is water, the paper turns into dirt and crumbles away when your affinity is earth and finally the paper becomes crunched up and get wrinkled when your affinity is lightning, got it?"

"Got It!" Naruto exclaimed with an excitedly as he then sent chakra to the paper. After a moment the paper was sliced in to.

'That's what I expected.' Jiraiya thought, but then suddenly one half of the paper became wet and damp while the other became dirt and cumbled away. 'What in the world?!' Jiraiya thought with shock.

"Whoa... so I have wind, earth and water!" Naruto exclaimed with glee, but then the damp paper ignited and turned into ash. "And fire too? Awesome, Dattebayo!" Naruto cheered.

'The fire affinity, I guess is from him being the Kyuubi's jinchuriki, wind obviously from his father and I guess the water is because of his Uzumaki bloodline, but the earth, where did that come from?' Jiraiya thought still shellshocked.

"Sweet! I'm going to be so strong and powerful!" Naruto cheered. "So what's first?" Naruto asked but then he noticed Jiraiya was still shocked. "Uh, Ero-sennin... um... hello~... Holy Crap! Women in bikinis!"

"Where?!" Jiraiya looked aound, but found nothing. "Not cool gaki."

"Well you weren't moving or anything, so what else was I supposed to do?" Naruto responded.

"Thanks I guess." Jiraiya said with his arms crossed. "Anyway, train in water walking on the body of water there."

"Why?"

"Well you can't perform the **Odama Rasengan** (Big Ball Spiraling Sphere) without proper chakra control."

"But I could use my clones to help me out." Naruto said.

"Hate to tell ya kid, but those clones are pretty much a double edged sword in battle. They cost half of your chakra to make just one and they die in one hit, making them a waste." Jiraiya said.

"Seriously~" Naruto whined.

"You said you wanted to become stronger."

"Aw man."

"Old habits die hard, gaki." Jiraiya said. Naruto just turned and headed towards the body of water in the middle of the training ground as he then made his signature hand sign.

"**Kage Bushin no Jutsu!**" Naruto then created fifty clones as they all headed towards the water.

"Hold it right there gaki!" The Naruto's turned towards Jiraiya."Since it seems you've learned the trick of **Kage Bushin**, then we're going to have to do things a little different. Ten on water waking, ten on tree climbing, ten on hanging upiside down a tree with chakra being sent to your feet, ten on balancing the leaf exercise and ten on meditating."

"What?! I don't even know how to do that last one!" The original Naruto shouted.

"Practice makes perfect; no hurry up!" Jiraiya ordered making the Narutos groan.

;

.

Naruto had trained all morning and all afternoon with his clones and boy was it a pain, but will admit that he was getting used to it thanks to his clones. After Jiraiya told him to dispell the groups one by one, Naruto had gained the knowledge of his clones making him more familiar with the exercises.

"Well gaki, I think you earned a nice hot meal." Jiraiya said.

"Yeah." Naruto panted. "Well see ya." Naruto said turning away.

"Where are you going?"

"To cook myself some dinner." Naruto answered.

"I was actually referring to treating you to Ichiraku ramen, but if that's how you feel-"

"Last one there is a pipple on Gamabunta's butt!" Naruto shouted as he ran off.

"Oh Hell No! I Won't Let You Win Gaki!" Jiraiya shouted as he raced Naruto to Ichiraku ramen.

;

.

"I could've beaten you if I wasn't sore from the exercises." Naruto said glaring at Jiraiya with his arms crossed.

"Whatever helps you sleep at night gaki." Jiraiya said with a toothy grin.

"Here you go Naruto." Teuchi said placing the bowl of ramen in front of Naruto.

"Thanks old man! Itadakimasu." Naruto thanked Teuchi and Kami for the meal as he started digging in.

"Just don't go overboard on the stuff, gaki." Jiraiya said as he got his bowl of ramen next.

"No promises." Naruto said as he finally finished his bowl. "Another one, please old man!" Naruto said.

'I knew I was going to regret this.' Jiraiya thought with a bit of gloom.

"Glad that you decided to stay Naruto! Ichiraku wouldn't have been the same without you." Teuchi said with a smile.

"I couldn't part with this place or you and Ayame-nee-chan." Naruto said as he started to then slurp on his noodles.

"Good to hear!" Teuchi said with a grin.

Jiraiya couldn't help, but smile at the blonde. 'He is getting stronger at a faster rate than I expected. Guess I was wrong to try and take him out of the village.' Jiraiya thought.

"Of course I'd find you here." Naruto and Jiraiya turned to see Kakashi.

"Oh hey Kaka-sensei, what are you doing here?" Naruto asked.

"Well I was wondering if any of you have seen Tsunade-sama. Shizune told me that she disappeared, well the original her anyway, so she asked me to help her to find Tsunade-sama." Kakashi explained.

"I see. So you talked with Shizune-nee, huh? What were you two doing together?" Naruto teased with a grin getting a laugh out of Jiraiya.

"Naruto, please keep your little perverted mind in check." Kakashi said with a sweat drop expression.

"Kakashi sensei, did you find her yet?" Sakura said appearing next to him.

"Hey Sakura-chan." Naruto greeted his crush with a smile.

"Oh, hi Naruto; have you seen Tsunade-shishou anywhere?" Sakura asked.

"Sorry, I didn't." Naruto answered. "I see Tsunade-baa-chan pushed you through hell today, huh?" Naruto said noticing some of the marks and bruises on Sakura's arms.

"Yeah, but I can feel myself getting stronger." Sakura said with a grin. "By the way, sorry about my mom scaring you off earlier."

"Don't worry about it." Naruto said shrugging it off. Kakashi watched his two students interaction and it made him smile that they were now getting along.

"I Want Ramen, Now!" The four heard a voice.

"Tsunade-sama, please calm down." Shizune's voice was heard. Suddenly a drunk Tsunade appeared in the ramen bar.

"One Miso Pork Now Please!" Tsunade ordered with a huge smile as she sat down.

"Hi baa-chan." Naruto greeted the elder blonde as he got a new bowl after finishing his second one.

"Oh, hey gaki, I was hoping to find you! I wanted to thank you for telling me that jutsu to help get me through all that paperwork quicker. Now I don't need to worry about anymore for a while now." Tsunade said with a huge smile on her face.

"No problem, just remember our deal." Naruto said as he slurped some noodle.

"I won't; you deserve it after helping me out." Tsunade said with a smile. Shizune then came inside as she placed her hands on her knees as she panted.

"You okay?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah *pant, pant* she's just really fast for her age." Shizune said.

"What was that?" Tsunade asked with a glare.

"N-nothing Tsunade-sama." Shizune quickly said as she stood up straight and waved her hands in defense.

"Yeah, that's what I thought." Tsunade said as she got her bowl of ramen in front of her. Naruto also got another bowl after finishing his third one.

"Finally!" The two blondes exclaimed with joy as the grabbed their bowls and inhaled them within seconds. "Another please!" They both said extending their bowls out. The others in the ramen bar face faulted onto the floor at the two's behavior.

'The two act like they really are related.' Sakura thought as she got back up. Although, she was the only one along with Naruto and the Ichiraku's who didn't know that technically, Naruto and Tsunade are related since Tsunade's grandmother was an Uzumaki and Naruto's mother was an Uzumaki, making them distant cousins.

(Which explains how come Tsunade has so much chakra and outlived a lot of people.)

Teuchi served the two as they then started digging into their bowls of ramen.

"Jeez, calm down Naruto, I'm paying for the meal, remember?" Jiraiya said with a sweat drop expression.

"That's a great idea! Jiraiya, you're paying for my bowls too!" Tsunade said as she finished her bowl and requested another one along with Naruto.

"Hey, Hey, Hold On! Who Said I Was Paying For Your Food Too?!" Jiraiya yelled.

"I did! And I'm the Hokage! So unless you want jail time where some greased up brute will make you his sweetheart, then do what I say!" Tsunade exclaimed narrowing her eyes at Jiraiya.

"You're wicked, you know that?" Jiraiya said with a glare. Kakashi, Sakura and Shizune decided to sit down and have a meal since they were here and it was close to dinner time.

Naruto finished his latest bowl and asked for another one that Teuchi was gladly serving for him. While Naruto waited, he looked to the others.

Tsunade and Jiraiya were arguing over a small thing like an old married couple, Kakashi and Shizune were talking about their younger days and Sakura was looking beautiful as always. Sakura then looked at him and smiled brightly at him which he gladly returned.

Naruto's bowl then was placed in front of him. As he looked into the broth, Naruto then started to wonder.

'Sasuke... I wonder how you're doing.' Naruto wondered as he then started to eat his meal.

;

.

Sasuke stood in the middle of a forest with a blindfold around his eyes, a sword in his hands and a robe as his clothing. Sasuke was breathing calmly as he concentrated on his surroundings.

Suddenly kunai and shuriken came raining down on him. Sasuke started to then parry them as a couple of figures raced at him. Sasuke then started sending slashes to the figures, harming them. Sasuke heards screams and wails of pain as he cut them, rendering them to collapse on the ground.

Once he was done with the last person, Sasuke removed his blindfold and looked aroun the area to see the fallen bodies of oto-nin with kunai and shuriken surrounding them.

Suddenly clapping echoed in the forest as a figure emerged from the shadows.

"Well done Sasuke-kun." Orochimaru said.

"I failed." Sasuke said referring to the tear on his robe's shoulder area.

"True, but you are getting stronger and soon enough you'll be strong enough to kill Itachi." Orochimaru said with a smirk.

"Whatever." Sasuke then turned and started to leave. "I'm going to bed."

Orochimaru just smiled as he saw Sasuke's retreating form until he was gone.

"Not bad, right?" Orochimaru said with a smirk.

"He's still not strong enough, but he will get there." A voice said from a sadowy figure behind Orochimaru.

"So you think you'll be able to finish the project as you suggested?" Orochimaru question as he slightly turned his head to the shadowy figure.

"It'll take some time and truthfully I want to take as much time as possible for his stay here, but I am a man of science, so there is no need to worry about a thing." The shadowy figure said.

"Maybe not on your end." Orochimaru said. The shadowy figure just shrugged his shoulder. The figure then examined a shuriken with some blood on it.

"Don't worry. With this, everything will turn out just fine." The figure said before he vanished into the shadows.

"You better be right." Orochimaru said as he vanished as well.

;

.

The next day, Naruto laid on the grass of Training Ground 12, where Tsunade and Sakura meet for Sakura's own training. Tsunade said that Naruto should come over to the training ground and learn a few chakra control exercises since Jiraiya mentioned that he was training Naruto in controlling his chakra.

Naruto felt so calm and relaxed that he felt like he could sleep. For some reason, he felt one with nature.

"So you came." Tsunade said making Naruto turn his head to see the Hokage and Sakura.

"Yeah, I need to get stronger and since your all about strength I figured you were my best bet." Naruto said.

"Flattery won't get you anywhere gaki." Tsunade said with a smirk.

"Anyway, did Ero-sennin tell you about my affinity over earth?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah. He told me about your affinities for all the elements minus lightning." Tsunade said. Sakura looked at Tsunade and then Naruto with a shocked experession.

'Naruto can use all the elements except lightning?! Wow... he really is the most unpredictable shinobi in our village.' Sakura thought still shocked at Naruto's new found abilities.

"You're in luck that I know some earth based jutsu along with water as well, but for now you should focus on your control over your chakra." Tsunade said with a smile.

"Right!" Naruto exclaimed as he shot up from the ground. "So what's first?"

;

.

"This is torture!" Naruto exclaimed with agony.

Naruto was standing on a rock with his head as he held the rest of his body up as he balanced rocks on his hands and feet, but he had to use his chakra to continuously spin the rocks in place and while he did that the area around the rock his head was standing against was filled with red hot coals which would burn him if he fell on them and it didn't help that little pieces burning rock jumped out of the pile and hit his bare skin on his forearms and face.

"You're doing great Naruto!" Tsunade cheered trying to encourage her fellow blonde.

"Shishou."

"Yes Sakura?"

"Wasn't that the grass Naruto was lying on?" Sakura asked pointing at the green patch of grass.

"Yes, why do you ask?" Tsunade questioned.

"Well because it's greener then the rest of the grass; isn't that odd?" Sakura questioned turning to her sensei.

"You're right." Tsunade said scratching her chin as she noticed that indeed the grass Naruto was lying on is greener than the rest of the grass. 'That's queer...'

"AH!" The two then turned to see that Naruto had landed on the burning coal as he then shot up and started running to the nearest body of water. "IT BURNS! IT BURNS!" Naruto screamed as he jumped into the nearby lake.

Sakura giggled as she saw Naruto's behavior of his misfortune while Tsunade just smirk.

'That kid... I guess I'll just worry about that grass thing later.' Tsunade thought with a smile as she watched Narutoclimb out of the lake, all wet.

"Eww, Naruto!" Sakura said with disgust. Naruto looked confused until he looked behind himself to see the water moving where his butt was.

"That's not me!" Naruto shouted as he backed away from the water. Naruto then neard the water with his face looking into it, but then the water started to react by making ripple, bubbles and move a bit. "What is up with this water?" Naruto questioned with a raised eyebrow as Tsunade and Sakura walked up behind him.

"It's not the water Naruto; it's you." Tsunade answered.

"Me?" Naruto questioned as he looked up at Tsunade.

"Apparently your power over water is so great that it's connecting to nearby liquid and effecting it without any need for effort or use from you." Tsunade explained.

"Wow! I knew I was awesome, dattebayo!" Naruto cheered with a grin, but Sakura then lightly punched him in the back of the head.

"Don't get such a big head." Sakura said.

"Sakura-chan~ Come on~" Naruto whined making Sakura laugh at his childish behavior.

Tsunade laughed as she saw the two teammate's/friend's interaction; they sort of reminded her of herself and Jiraiya.

;

.

After a long and painful day of training, Naruto managed to learn a lot thanks to his use of clones that he later used; with permission from Tsunade of course. Sakura also managed to get some things down, she even felt her amount of chakra start to rise from her training with the Hokage.

"Well you two, I think the both of you are done for today." Tsunade said.

"Good." Naruto said as he sighed and turned away. "I gotta go cook dinner."

"Cook? You can cook Naruto?" Sakura asked.

"Well I just started, but Ero-sennin said I did well for my first try." Naruto said.

"Really? Then you've got to cook for me one of these days." Sakura said with a smile.

"Are you serious?" Naruto asked earning a nod from Sakura taht made him grin. "Well, I'll cook for you anytime Sakura-chan!" Naruto said with his trademark grin.

"Good, but not today. I'm feeling in the mood for barbeque today." Sakura said as she walked passed Naruto who looked disappointed. Naruto thought that he would be able to have Sakura hang out with him by cooking her a meal. "Well?" Naruto turned to see Sakura standing a little away from him. "You coming or not?" Sakura asked with a smile.

Naruto looked at her with wide eyes, shocked that she wanted to hang out with him. He then grinned at her with joy.

"Of course I am!" Naruto exclaimed as he raced towards her before he then started walking beside her. "Hey Sakura-chan, is this a-" Naruto was about to ask if they were going out on a date, but then he remembered what Jiraiya said about acting cool and calm; that it attracts the ladies.

"A what, Naruto?" Sakura questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"You're not offering me to come along because you still feel a little sad about stuff like Sasuke, right?" Naruto asked. The only reason he brought that up was because he didn't want to say the 'D' word, but he felt that what he said was worse. Sakura looked at Naruto with shock.

"No, of course not." Sakura said with sad eyes.

"That's good." Naruto said as he closed his eyes and put his hands in his pockets. "Because if there's one thing a woman, especially one so beautiful, should not feel, it's sadness and any other negative emotions." Naruto said calmly making Sakura blush at Naruto's words. "By the way, I'm buying; no excuses." Naruto said smiling as he flashed his cerulean eyes at Sakura.

Sakura didn't know what came over Naruto, but as she felt her lips curve into a bashful smile and her cheeks heat up, she actually liked it.

Tsunade watched the two walk away with a smile on her face.

"They look cute together." Jiraiya said as he appeared next to her.

"That's a new one comig from a pervert like you." Tsunade said.

"Surprises happen." Jiraiya said shrugging his shoulders. "Speaking of surprises-"

"Don't even go there." Tsunade said with annoyance.

"I was going to mention that patch of grass." Jiraiya said, but then he felt KI come from a pissed Tsunade. "I mean the one Naruto was lying on." Jiraiya said.

"Oh." Tsunade said blushing from embarrassment, but then she heard Jiraiya chuckle which caused her to punch him in the side.

"Ow! I thing you bruised my ribs." Jiraiya said holding his side.

"Good." Tsunade said crossing her arms.

"Some world famous medic-nin you are." Jiraiya mumbled, but then he sensed Tsunade getting angry again. "Kidding, kidding!" Jiraiya quickly said putting his hands up in defense.

"Just get to the point." Tsunade ordered.

"The point is, you knew what that was about, I could sense it." Jiraiya said. Tsunade stayed silent for a moment as she stood frozen. Jiraiya then noticed a tear go down her eye. "Are you okay?" Jiraiya asked with worry.

"I... I have a theory, but I want to wait a while before I say anything." Tsunade said.

"I understand." Jiraiya said as he placed a hand on Tsunade's shoulder. Then he got an idea that would cheer up Tsunade. "How about we get a drink... on me." Jiraiya mentioned the last thing reluctantly.

Tsunade then smiled at Jiraiya's suggestion.

"Well, if you insist." Tsunade said with a smug smile.

'I really got to stop offering to buy stuff for blondes.' Jiraiya thought with a sweat drop.

;

.

Naruto and Sakura headed towards the Korean BBQ to have a meal, but then someone called out to them.

"Hey forehead! Naruto!" The two turned to see Ino running towards them.

"What do you want Pig?" Sakura asked with narrowed eyes.

"What? Can't a girl say hi?" Ino said as she stopped in front of the two.

"Well yeah, but you're not one to say something nice to people like us." Sakura said.

"Oh come on Sakura-chan, we're not back in the academy anymore; I'm sure Ino has matured in more ways than you expect." Naruto said vouching for Ino.

Ino looked at Naruto with surprise that he defended her. She then blushed and smiled at how sweet he was.

"Naruto, who's side are you on?!" Sakura exclaimed as she glared at the blonde making him flinch.

"Don't yell at him!" Ino defended Naruto shocking the two. "Thank you Naruto for vouching for me." Ino thanked the blonde with a blush.

"Um, sure, no problem Ino-chan." Naruto said with a smile as he scratched the back of his head making Ino blush from the blonde once again adding the suffix at the end of her name.

'Ino-chan?! And Is Ino Blushing?! What The Hell?!' Sakura questioned within her thoughts as she felt a familiar feeling come to her chest.

**"Looks like someone's jealous~" **Inner Sakura spoke.

'You! Go Away! I Have My Own Problems!' Sakura spoke to her inner self through her thoughts. 'AND I'M NOT JEALOUS!'

"So where are you to off to?" Ino asked.

"We're off to-"

"Well if you must know Ino-pig, Naruto and I are heading towards the Korean BBQ." Sakura said.

"Cool; can join? It'd be great to go to that place without worrying about Choji eating all the food."

"Well sure Ino you can-" but before Naruto could continue, Sakura wrapped her arm around Naruto's making him blush from the surprise.

"Sorry Pig, but it's just me and Naruto today." Sakura said.

"Wait, you mean you two are going out on a date?" Ino questioned.

"No!" Sakura quickly said releasing Naruto's arm as the two blushed in a bit of embarrassment.

"Then why can't I join?" Ino asked.

"Well if want to then sure you can come." Naruto said shrugging his shoulders.

"Naruto!"

"Why thank you Naruto, you are such a gentleman." Ino said with a smile. 'Wow... never thought I'd ever say that.' Ino thought with inner shock.

"Can you excuse us for a minute?" Sakura said with a smile as she dragged Naruto away from Ino. "What is wrong with you?!" Sakura raised her voice with annoyance.

"I'm just being a nice guy;." Naruto said shrugging his shoulders. "Why do you hate it?"

"No! It's just me and Ino haven't gotten along in a long time." Sakura said.

"Then this is perfect for the both you then! If she comes with us, you two can rekindle your friendship again." Naruto said with a smile.

"Naruto-"

"Sakura, I know that I might be one of the people you don't want to here this from, but let's act mature and invite Ino along as a sign of good will and as a beginning to a new start for all of us. We're growing up... shouldn't we learn to forgive and forget?" Naruto said feeling a bit nervous that he might have irritated Sakura.

Sakura stared at Naruto with shock as she blushed at how mature Naruto was becoming.

"Yes we should!" Ino exclaimed as she wrapped her arm around Naruto's neck. "Thank you Naruto for being so mature." Ino said with a smile. 'Another thing I never thought I'd ever say about him.'

"See, even Ino wants to make a new start, so shouldn't you just give her a chance?" Naruto said. Sakura looked at the two for a moment before she sighed in defeat.

"Fine, you win, but if me and Ino talk about girly things, you'll have no one, but yourself to blame." Sakura said as she grabbed Naruto's hand and ripped him away from Ino's grasp and started dragging him away with Ino following behind.

'Wow... Ino actually touched me. So that's what the touch of a girl feels like.' Naruto thought with a small blush. 'I liked it.'

"Hey Naruto!" Naruto turned to see Tenten making her way towards him, Sakura and Ino.

"Hey Tenten, what's up?" Naruto greeted her as he stopped along with Sakura and Ino.

"Here." Tenten gave Naruto a knife that had a curved tip and a white seal on the handle.

"What's this?" Naruto asked as he grabbed the knife but not before Tenten placed it back within the sheathe.

"It's a special knife I made for you; you know for our training tomorrow." Tenten said.

"You made this for me?" Naruto asked with shock.

"Well, I had some help from uncle Jinbe, but it was my idea to give it to you." Tenten said with a bit of a blush. "See the seal is like the ones on the palms of your gloves, but instead of storage it connects with your chakra and weaponizes it and can also surround the blade in your nature affinity." Tenten explained. "You do know what a nature affinity is, right?" Tenten asked.

"Yeah, I've got control over four of the elements. Well except for lightning." Naruto informed making Ino and Tenten adopted shocked looks upon their faces.

"You do?" Ino questioned still in shock.

"Yep, I heard Tsunade-shishou mention it earlier." Sakura said.

"Wow, you really are the village's most unpredictable shinobi." Tenten said with a smile.

"Thanks, Tenten-chan." Naruto thanked the brunette making her blush from him using the suffix at the end of her name. "Hey, we were headed towards the Korean BBQ; you wanna come?" Naruto asked.

"Me? Well, sure, if that's okay with you two." Tenten said referring to Sakura and Ino.

"It's fine with me." Ino said shrugging her shoulders.

"Yeah, sure. The more the merrier, I guess." Sakura said.

"Hey, what about you Hinata?" Naruto asked as he turned to a wooden pole as the group heard an 'eep'. "I figured since you were following us that you wanted to join." Naruto said.

Hinata blushed red, feeling embarrassed that Naruto found out she was following him, and nervous on actually approaching him.

"Come on." Ino said as she made her way to Hinata and grabbed her hand and started dragging her towards the others. "You need to socialize more anyway Hinata." Ino said with a smile as she dragged the shy girl.

"Well if that's all, then let's go. I'm sure we're all starving now." Naruto said getting a nod from the others, with Hinata's being more timid. "Oh and ladies, one more thing." Naruto said earning their attention. "I'm paying for everything." Naruto said with a cool smile.

The girls looked at him with shock before they grin, except Hinata who just smiled.

"Okay, but you have no one but yourself to blame." Sakura said as she grabbed Naruto and started to drag him towards the Korean BBQ with the other girls following.

'Why did I even say that?! I really am a glutton for punishment... damn you Ero-sennin and your advice to make me be more likable!' Naruto thought, but for some reason he was still happy.

Unnoticed by Naruto and the girls, the boys were actually searching for Naruto to have a boy's night out as a way to celebrate his stay in Konoha, but then they saw him hanging out with the girls which sheelshocked them that they couldn't even move.

After a few moments, Kiba managed to move as he growled angrily and glared at where Naruto and the girls left towards as he started to shake with envy.

"THAT LUCKY BASTARD!"

End of Chapter 1

Well now that was fun, and it only took two days to write!

I hoped you all liked it and JTZ29 senpai, I hoped it was as good as you hoped and expected the first chapter to be.

Anyway, thank you all for reading and have a nice day.

Takeshi1225, out!


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